f/ 

. . 

'Smcriran  ISoarti  of  Commissioners  for 
JFarctgn  fissions. 


/73^ 


NINE  DECADES  OF 

THE  AMERICAN  BOARD. 


a  ConDensefc  Ibfetorical  Sftctcb. 

1810  — 1901. 


“What  Hath  God  Wrought!" 


BOSTON : 
1902. 


I 


- 


.  ■  • 


A  Condensed  Historical  Sketch  of  the 
American  Board. 
1810-1897. 


Formation.  —  The  American  Board  was  or¬ 
ganized  at  Bradford,  Massachusetts,  June  29, 
1810.  Prior  to  this,  a  few  local  societies  had 
been  formed  in  New  England  with  special  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  needs  of  the  neglected  portions  of 
our  own  country,  including  the  Indian  tribes ; 
but  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  send  a  mis¬ 
sionary  from  America  to  any  foreign  land.  For 
several  years  God  had  been  moving  the  hearts 
of  many  individuals,  widely  separated,  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  needs  of  the  distant  regions  of  the 
earth.  Samuel  J.  Mills  (born  April  21,  1783), 
whose  mother  had  consecrated  him  in  his  infancy 
to  missionary  service,  entered  Williams  College 
in  1806,  and  sought  to  awaken  an  interest  Lt 
missions.  During  that  first  year  a  memorable 
missionary  prayer  -  meeting  was  held  by  the 
students  under  the  shelter  of  a  haystack,  to 
which  they  were  driven  by  rain,  and  the  impres¬ 
sions  of  that  hour  were  so  deep  and  led  to  such 
results  that  the  spot  where  that  meeting  was  held 
has  been  called  the  “  Birthplace  of  American 


4 


Missions.”  Two  years  later  (1808),  a  society 
was  formed  in  the  college  “to  effect,  in  the  person 
of  its  members,  a  mission  to  the  heathen,”  but 
this  organization  was  kept  secret,  “  lest,”  as  they 
said,  “we  should  be  thought  rashly  imprudent 
and  should  so  injure  the  cause  we  wish  to  pro¬ 
mote.”  Mills,  Gordon  Hall,  and  James  Richards 
went  to  Andover  Seminary  and  there  met  Samuel 
Newell,  Adoniram  Judson,  and  Samuel  Nott,  Jr., 
who  were  all  of  the  same  mind  as  to  missions. 
After  consulting  with  their  professors  at  Andover, 
and  others,  particularly  with  Dr.  Samuel  Spring, 
of  Newburyport,  and  Rev.  Samuel  Worcester, 
of  Salem,  Mills,  Newell,  Nott,  and  Judson  pre¬ 
sented  their  request  to  the  General  Association 
of  Massachusetts,  which  that  year  (1810)  met  at 
Bradford.  Hall  and  Richards  would  have  also 
appeared,  as  desiring  “  to  attempt  a  mission  to 
the  heathen,”  had  it  not  been  feared  that  so 
large  a  number  of  applicants  would  alarm  those 
before  whom  they  were  to  come.  The  Associa¬ 
tion  commended  the  motives  and  plans  of  the 
young  men,  and  under  the  lead  of  Messrs.  Spring 
and  Worcester  organized  the  American  Board 
“  for  the  purpose  of  devising  ways  and  means 
and  adopting  and  prosecuting  measures  for  pro¬ 
moting  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  heathen 
lands.”  Nine  commissioners  were  chosen,  five 


5 


from  Massachusetts  and  four  from  Connecticut. 
It  was  not  until  two  years  later  that  a  charter 
could  be  obtained  from  the  State  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  The  petition  was  strongly  opposed 
during  two  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  and  the 
bill  was  more  than  once  rejected.  It  was  finally 
passed  June  20,  1812. 

First  Decade,  1811-1820.  —  The  First  Am 
nual  Meeting  was  held  at  Farmington,  Connect¬ 
icut,  September  5,  1810.  Five  commissioners 
were  present,  with  an  audience  of  one  person. 
A  Prudential  Committee  of  three  was  chosen 
Rev.  Samuel  Worcester  was  chosen  secretary, 
which  office  he  held  for  several  years  in 
connection  with  his  pastorate  at  Salem.  Until 
1815  the  Prudential  Committee  met  from  two 
to  six  times  a  year,  as  occasion  might  arise,  at 
Hartford,  Boston,  Newburyport,  Salem,  Andover, 
or  Charlestown.  In  1815  they  began  to  meet  quar¬ 
terly.  The  receipts  for  the  first  year  amounted  to 
$999.52,  and,  as  there  was  no  prospect  of  securing 
sufficient  funds  to  support  the  applicants  for  mis¬ 
sionary  service,  Adoniram  Judson  was  dispatched 
to  England  in  January,  1811,  to  confer  with  the 
officers  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  (estab¬ 
lished  1795)  in  reference  to  joint  support  and 
direction  of  American  missionaries.  The  pro- 


6 


posal  was  courteously  declined  in  the  hope  that 
these  young  men  would  be  supported  by  their 
countrymen.  The  same  year  (1811),  Jeremiah 
Evarts  was  chosen  treasurer,  and  the  fact  was 
made  public  that  Mrs.  Mary  Norris,  of  Salem, 
had  bequeathed  $30,000  for  foreign  missions. 
The  Board  resolved  to  send  out  Judson,  Nott, 
Newell,  and  Hall,  to  establish  a  mission  in  Asia. 
On  the  sixth  of  February,  1812,  these  four  men 
and  Luther  Rice  were  ordained  in  the  Tabernacle 
Church,  Salem.  Judson  and  Newell,  with  their 
wives,  sailed  from  Salem,  February  19;  the  other 
three,  with  the  wife  of  Nott,  from  Philadelphia, 
a  few  days  later.  Reaching  Calcutta  June  17, 
1812,  Messrs.  Judson  and  Newell  were  ordered 
home  by  the  British  East  India  Company,  on 
the  ground  that  their  commercial  interests  would 
be  jeopardized  by  an  attempt  to  interfere  with 
the  religious  faith  of  the  Hindus.  They  went  to 
the  Isle  of  France,  where  Mrs.  Harriet  Newell 
died,  November  30.  Her  spirit  of  consecration 
and  her  early  death  produced  a  profound  im¬ 
pression,  and  served  to  awaken  a  deep  interest 
in  missions.  During  this  same  year  Messrs. 
Judson  and  Rice  changed  their  views  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  the  former  going  to  Burma 
and  commencing  a  Baptist  mission  there.  This 
event  led  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Baptist 


7 


Missionary  Union  in  May,  1814.  Messrs,  Hah 
and  Nott,  driven  from  Calcutta,  reached  Bombay 
February  1 1 ,  1813,  and,  after  negotiations  extend¬ 
ing  over  many  months,  permission  was  given 
them,  December  22,  1813,  to  remain,  and  thus, 
among  the  Marathas  of  Western  India,  the  first 
mission  of  the  American  Board  in  foreign  lands 
was  established.  The  Ceylon  Mission  was  begun 
in  1816,  in  the  northern  island  of  Jaffna,  on  the 
arrival  of  Daniel  Poor  and  four  associates. 
During  the  same  year  a  foreign  mission  school 
was  established  at  Cornwall,  Connecticut,  with 
the  design  of  educating  heathen  youth  in  this 
country,  a  plan  which  was  abandoned  in  1826. 
Missions  were  opened  among  the  Cherokee 
Indians  in  1817,  and  among  the  Choctaws  in 
:8i8.  In  1819,  October  23,  seventeen  persons, 
two  of  them  ordained,  sailed  from  Boston,  in 
the  brig  Thaddeus ,  to  begin  a  mission  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  Among  the  number  were 
three  native  Hawaiians,  educated  at  the  Corn¬ 
wall  Mission  School.  On  arriving  at  the  islands, 
it  was  unexpectedly  found  that  the  people  had 
abolished  idolatry  and  were  ready  to  receive 
Christian  teachers.  Pliny  Fisk  and  Levi  Parsons 
sailed  November  3.  1819,  to  commence  a  mission 
in  Palestine.  In  1820  the  income  of  the  Board, 
for  the  year  ending  August  31,  was  $39,949.45, 


8 


and  the  total  receipts  for  the  first  ten  years 
amounted  to  $202,379.11. 

Second  Decade,  1821-1830.  —  Early  in  this 
period  revivals  occurred  in  the  Ceylon  Mission, r 
and  at  Brainard  and  other  stations  among  the 
North  American  Indians.  In  1821,  on  the  death 
of  Samuel  Worcester,  Jeremiah  Evarts  suc¬ 
ceeded  him  as  Secretary.  In  1823  the  King  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  with  twelve  chiefs  and 
about  200  other  pupils,  were  learning  to  read. 
The  same  year  Goodell  and  Bird  arrived  at 
Beirut,  thus  commencing  the  Syrian  Mission. 
In  1829  Bridgman  and  Abeel  sailed  for  Canton, 
to  begin  a  mission  in  China.  In  1830  Eli  Smith 
and  H.  G.  O.  Dwight  conducted  an  exploring 
tour  through  Armenia  and  Persia,  and  their 
report  awakened  the  greatest  interest  among 
the  American  churches.  During  this  decade, 
aside  from  the  revivals  in  Ceylon  and  among 
the  Choctaw,  Cherokee,  Chickasaw,  and  Seneca 
Indians,  there  were  signs  of  deep  religious  in¬ 
terest  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where,  at  the 
close  of  this  period,  there  were  900  schools  and 
over  44,000  learners.  In  1830  the  receipts  of 
the  Board  were  $83,019.37,  the  total  amount  for 
the  decade  being  $7°7,3I^,93- 


9 


Third  Decade,  1831-1840.  — In  1831  Jonas 
King,  who  had  previously  spent  a  few  years  in 
Beirut,  Smyrna,  and  the  island  of  Tenos,  com¬ 
menced  a  mission  to  the  Greeks  at  Athens.  The 
same  year  Mr.  Goodell  removed  from  Malta, 
where  he  had  been  engaged  in  superintending 
the  mission  press,  to  Constantinople,  thus  com¬ 
mencing  what  is  now  the  Western  Turkey  Mis¬ 
sion.  In  1831-33  the  Cherokees  and  Choctaws 
were  driven  from  their  possessions  in  Georgia, 
and  such  as  survived  the  hardships  of  the  journey 
settled  in  the  Indian  Territory.  There  were  four 
missions  commenced  in  1833,  in  Siam,  Singa¬ 
pore,  Persia,  and  at  Cape  Palmas,  West  Africa. 
The  Madura  Mission  was  begun  in  1834,  and 
the  Zulu  Mission,  Southeastern  Africa,  in  1835. 
In  1834  William  Arms  and  Titus  Coan  explored 
Patagonia  but  found  no  opening  for  a  mission. 
Lyman  and  Munson,  while  seeking  to  establish  a 
mission  in  Sumatra,  were  killed  by  the  natives, 
June  28,  1834.  A  great  revival  occurred  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands  in  1837-38,  over  ten  thousand 
persons  having  been  received  to  the  churches 
within  twelve  months.  In  1839  there  were 
16,587  church  members  on  the  islands.  In  1840 
the  receipts  of  the  Board  were  $241,691.04. 
The  total  receipts  for  the  decade  amounted  to 
$1,84.3.422.81. 


10 


At  the  close  of  this  decade  the  Board  had  25 
missions,  9  of  them  among  Indian  tribes  of 
North  America.  There  were  134  ordained  mis¬ 
sionaries,  10  physicians,  35  other  male  teachers, 
printers,  etc.,  and  186  female  missionaries,  in¬ 
cluding  wives :  a  total  of  365  laborers  from  this 
country.  There  were  also  122  native  helpers, 
55  churches,  17,234  church  members,  and  21,606 
pupils  in  schools.  From  the  beginning  the  Board 
had  sent  out  694  male  and  female  missionaries, 
and  the  missions  had  issued  no  less  than 
233, 1 56,08 1  pages  of  printed  matter. 

Fourth  Decade,  1841-50.  —  The  visit  of 
Mar  Yohannan,  of  Persia,  to  the  United  States 
in  1842,  in  company  with  Dr.  Perkins,  served  to 
kindle  great  interest  in  behalf  of  the  Nestorian 
and  other  missions.  The  same  year  the  mission 
in  Western  Africa  opened  a  station  at  the  Ga¬ 
boon,  which,  the  next  year,  gave  the  name  to  the 
mission.  In  1843-44  Secretary  Anderson  visited 
the  missions  in  the  Levant.  In  1843  Dr.  Marcus 
Whitman,  of  the  mission  to  the  Oregon  Indians, 
led  a  large  party  of  emigrants  with  wagons  from 
the  Mississippi  River  across  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  Oregon,  and  thus  practically  secured  to  the 
United  States  a  large  and  valuable  territory. 
In  1845  the  mission  in  China  was  divided  into 


II 


the  Southern  China  and  the  Amoy  Missions. 
The  first  Protestant  -  Armenian  church  was 
formed  at  Constantinople  in  1846,  and  a  wide¬ 
spread  and  hopeful  reformation  among  Arme¬ 
nians  accompanied  and  succeeded  this  event. 
In  1847  the  Foochow  Mission  was  begun  by 
the  transference  of  two  missionaries  from  Siam, 
and  the  latter  mission  as  well  as  that  to  Borneo 
were  discontinued  in  1849.  During  this  period, 
at  neady  every  Annual  Meeting,  memorials  were 
presented  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  growing  out 
of  the  fact  that  there  were  slaveholders  connected 
with  the  churches  among  the  North  American  In¬ 
dians.  In  1850  the  receipts  were  $251,862.28,  and 
the  total  amount  for  the  decade,  $2,560,447.91. 
At  the  close  of  this  period  there  were  24  mis¬ 
sions,  157  ordained  missionaries,  25  American 
teachers  and  printers,  204  female  missionaries,  in¬ 
cluding  wives,  85  churches  and  25,875  members. 

Fifth  Decade,  1851-1860.  —  In  1851  the 
Assyrian  Mission  was  set  off  from  the  mission 
to  the  Armenians,  having  its  central  station  at 
Mosul.  In  1852  Messrs.  Snow,  L.  H.  Gulick, 
and  Sturges  commenced  the  mission  in  the 
Micronesian  Islands.  In  1853  the  Board  met  for 
the  first  time  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  at  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  Ohio.  The  same  year  the  Board 


12 


declared  that  the  Sandwich  Islands  had  been 
“virtually  Christianized.”  Up  to  this  time  145 
laborers,  male  and  female,  had  been  sent  to  these 
islands.  There  were  then  26  churches,  with  a 
total  membership  of  22,236,  the  whole  number 
received  from  the  commencement  being  38,344. 
In  1854  Secretary  Anderson  and  Rev.  A.  C. 
Thompson  were  sent  as  a  deputation  to  visit  the 
missions  in  India,  and  the  same  year  a  mission 
was  established  in  Shanghai,  China.  In  1856 
the  first  Morning  Star  was  launched,  the  chil¬ 
dren  contributing  $28,505  for  her  construction 
and  expenses.  In  1857  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Churches,  which  had  hitherto  cooperated  with 
the  Board,  amicably  withdrew,  in  the  hope  of 
prosecuting  foreign  missionary  work  more  vigor¬ 
ously  under  a  Board  of  their  own.  Subsequently 
the  Arcot  and  Amoy  Missions  were  transferred 
to  the  care  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Board. 
At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  1857,  Hon.  Theodore 
Frelinghuysen  resigned  as  President  of  the 
Board,  and  Mark  Hopkins,  d.d.,  was  elected 
in  his  place.  In  i860  the  Cherokee  Mission 
was  discontinued.  The  “Jubilee  Meeting”  of 
the  Board  was  held  in  Boston  in  i860.  The 
receipts  for  that  year  were  $429, 799-°^  i  f°r 
the  decade,  $3,318,748.29;  for  the  fifty  years, 
$8,632,315.55.  At  the  close  of  this  period  there 


13 


were  connected  with  the  Board  22  missions, 
181  male  missionaries  (166  of  them  ordained), 
195  female  assistants  (total  Americans  376),  787 
native  helpers,  144  churches,  19,722  church 
members,  and  10,615  pupils.  During  the  half- 
century  there  had  been  sent  out  415  ordained 
men,  24  physicians,  128  male  assistants,  691 
female  assistants,  making  a  total  from  the 
United  States  of  1,258. 

Sixth  Decade,  1861-1870.  —  In  1861  the  mis¬ 
sions  in  Turkey,  called  in  1857  the  Southern  and 
Northern  Armenian,  were  divided  into  the  West¬ 
ern,  Central,  and  Eastern  Turkey  Missions,  the 
Assyrian  Mission  being  merged  in  the  last  named. 
In  the  same  year  Dr.  Blodget  removed  from 
Shanghai  to  Tientsin,  and  in  1862  the  name  of 
the  mission  was  changed  from  the  Shanghai  to 
the  North  China  Mission.  In  1865  Langdon  S. 
Ward  was  chosen  Treasurer  in  place  of  James 
M.  Gordon,  who  had  served  in  that  capacity  for 
ten  years.  In  1866  Dr.  Anderson  resigned 
'after  thirty-four  years  of  service  as  Correspond¬ 
ing  Secretary,  and  Rev.  N.  G.  Clark  was  elected 
in  his  place.  The  same  year  the  first  Morning 
Star  was  sold  and  a  new  one  built.  This  second 
Star  was  wrecked  in  1869  and  a  third  vessel 
built  in  1870.  The  Canton  Mission  was  closed 


14 


in  1866.  The  Board  had  been,  year  by  year, 
withdrawing  from  the  work  for  fifteen  Indian 
tribes  among  which  it  had  labored,  leaving  them 
to  the  care  of  Home  Missionary  Societies,  until 
in  1867,  with  the  exception  of  one  missionary 
among  the  Ojibwas  and  one  among  the  Senecas, 
its  only  mission  among  Indians  was  that  to  the 
Dakotas.  The  first  missionary  of  the  American 
Board  to  Japan  sailed  in  1869.  In  1870  the  two 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  having  been 
united,  it  was  felt  that  the  time  had  come  for  a 
separate  organization  for  prosecuting  foreign  mis¬ 
sions,  and  as  a  church  they  amicably  withdrew, 
though  some  members  of  that  body  have  con¬ 
tinued  down  to  the  present  time  to  cooperate 
with  the  American  Board.  The  receipts  of  the 
Board  for  this  decade  amounted  to  $4,550,371 .05, 
and  for  the  last  year  of  the  decade  to  $461 .058.42. 
At  the  close  of  this  period  there  were  18  mis¬ 
sions,  95  stations,  154  missionaries  (143  or¬ 
dained),  200  female  missionaries,  1,095  native 
helpers,  238  churches,  with  24,142  members. 

Seventh  Decade,  1871-1880.  —  At  the  open¬ 
ing  of  this  period  five  missions,  the  Persian,  the 
Syrian,  and  Gaboon,  and  those  to  the  Seneca 
and  Ojibwa  Indians,  were  transferred  to  the 
Presbyterian  Board,  and  the  Christianized  Sand- 


wich  Islands  were  no  longer  reckoned  as  among 
foreign  mission  fields.  The  statistics  of  mission¬ 
aries,  churches,  and  members  were  thus  largely 
reduced.  In  1871  the  missionaries  of  the  West¬ 
ern  Turkey  Mission  who  had  been  using  the 
Bulgarian  language  were  set  off  as  the  European 
Turkey  Mission.  At  its  Annual  Meeting  in* 
1871,  the  Board  resolved  to  undertake  mis¬ 
sionary  work  in  nominally  Christian  lands,  and 
missions  were  established  in  Spain,  Austria, 
Mexico,  and  Italy,  the  last  named  being  sus¬ 
pended  in  1874.  In  March,  1874,  J.  L.  Stephens, 
missionary  in  Mexico,  was  assassinated.  In  the 
same  year  the  first  church  of  the  Board  in  Japan 
was  organized.  In  the  year  1875-76,  1,504 
persons  were  received  to  the  mission  churches. 
In  1876  Rev.  E.  K.  Alden  became  Home 
Secretary,  and  his  predecessor,  the  Rev.  S.  B. 
Treat,  who  for  thirty  years  had  filled  the  office, 
died  in  1877.  At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  1877, 
at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  the  sum  of  $48,000 
was  pledged,  amid  great  enthusiasm,  to  meet  the 
deficit  of  the  previous  year.  The  year  1877-78 
was  one  of  severe  stringency,  making  retrench¬ 
ment  necessary;  but  in  1879  an  extraordinary 
legacy  was  received  by  the  will  of  Asa  Otis, 
amounting  to  about  one  million  dollars.  This 
bequest,  at  the  Annual  Meeting,  was  set  apart 


i6 


for  new  missions,  the  enlargement  of  existing 
missions,  and  for  educational  purposes.  Rev. 
John  O.  Means  was  sent  to  Europe  to  make 
inquiries  preparatory  to  a  new  mission  in  Africa, 
which  resulted,  in  1880,  in  the  establishment  of 
the  West  Central  African  Mission,  in  the  expec¬ 
tation  that  its  first  station  would  be  Bih6.  The 
same  year  Dr.  Means,  who  had  for  fourteen 
years  been  Recording  Secretary,  was  elected 
Corresponding  Secretary,  and  explorations  were 
begun  on  the  East  Coast  of  Africa,  toward 
Umzila’s  Kingdom,  but  Mr.  Pinkerton  died  on 
his  way  inland. 

The  receipts  for  1880  were  $613,539.51,  and 
for  the  decade,  $4,782,078.49.  At  the  close  of 
this  period  there  were  17  missions,  75  stations, 
170  male  missionaries  (156  ordained),  246  female 
missionaries,  1,269  native  helpers,  272  churches 
with  17,165  members,  28,098  pupils  in  schools. 

Eighth  Decade,  1881-1890.  —  The  first  year 
of  this  period  witnessed  the  addition  of  over 
2,000  persons  to  the  mission  churches  of  the 
Board.  The  missions  to  Shansi,  China,  and  to 
Northern  Mexico  were  established  in  1882,  and 
in  January,  1883,  the  Dakota  Mission  was  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
this  Association  relinquishing  its  work  in  foreign 


i7 


lands.  In  the  latter  year  a  deputation  from  a 
special  committee  of  the  Board,  also  one  from 
the  Prudential  Committee,  visited  Constantinople 
to  inquire  into  matters  connected  with  the  Turk¬ 
ish  missions.  The  same  year  the  proposed  mis¬ 
sion  on  the  East  African  Coast  was  established 
at  Inhambane.  Secretary  Means,  who  had  the 
charge  of  missions  in  Africa  and  elsewhere,  died 
Decembers,  1883,  and  the  next  year  Rev.  Judson 
Smith,  d.d.,  was  chosen  Corresponding  Secre¬ 
tary.  The  Hong  Kong  Mission,  with  special 
reference  to  Chinamen  returning  from  the  United 
States,  was  established  in  1883,  and  the  next 
year  the  Northern  Japan  Mission,  with  its  centre 
at  Niigata,  was  set  off  from  the  Japan  Mission. 
In  1884  another  large  legacy,  amounting  to 
nearly  a  half  million  dollars,  was  received  from 
the  estate  of  Samuel  W.  Swett,  Esq.,  which  was 
set  apart  to  meet  special  calls  in  the  evangelistic 
and  educational  departments.  In  the  same  year 
a  new  Morning  Star  was  built  and  despatched 
for  work  in  Micronesia.  On  the  death  of  Dr. 
Mark  Hopkins,  in  1887,  who  had  served  the 
Board  as  President  for  thirty  years,  Rev.  Dr. 
R.  S.  Storrs  was  elected  to  the  presidency.  Dur¬ 
ing  this  decade  the  receipts  of  the  Board  were 
$6,599,141.10,  the  receipts  for  1890  being  $762,- 
585.63.  At  the  close  of  this  period  the  missions 


i8 


numbered  22 ;  stations,  96 ;  the  male  mission¬ 
aries,  200 ;  female  missionaries,  333 ;  the  native 
laborers,  2,417  ;  the  churches,  387,  with  a  mem¬ 
bership  of  36,256;  the  pupils  under  instruction 
numbered  47,329,  and  the  contributions  in  the 
native  churches  were  reported  as  $117,494. 

Ninth  Decade,  1891-1900.  — In  September  of 
1890  the  mission  premises  on  Ponape,  Micronesia, 
were  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards,  and  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  were  compelled  to  leave  the  island. 
Four  years  later  the  Spanish  government  paid 
an  indemnity  of  $17,500  for  the  property  de¬ 
stroyed,  but  missionaries  were  not  allowed  to 
return  to  Ponape  until  1900,  after  the  Caroline 
Islands  had  come  into  the  possession  of  Germany. 
In  1891  a  small  schooner,  the  Robert  IV.  Logan, 
was  built  for  service  in  the  central  Carolines, 
especially  at  Ruk  and  the  Mortlocks,  and  the 
next  year  a  small  craft,  the  Hiram  Bingham, 
was  sent  for  the  use  of  Mr.  Walkup  within  the 
Gilbert  group.  The  Logan  was  lost  at  sea  in  1893, 
while  sailing  from  Japan  for  Ruk,  but  a  new  one 
of  the  same  name  was  built  in  1895.  This  vessel 
was  wrecked  on  one  of  the  Mortlock  islands 
in  1898.  In  1892  the  name  of  the  Hong  Kong 
Mission  was  changed  to  the  South  China  Mis¬ 
sion,  the  Northern  Japan  Mission  was  merged 
in  that  of  Japan,  and  the  Northern  and  Western 


19 


Mexico  Missions  were  combined.  In  East  Africa 
explorations  were  made  in  Gazaland  by  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  residing  near  Inhambane,  and  in  1893 
the  mission  was  transferred  to  the  highlands 
west  of  the  Gazaland  border,  within  the  territory 
of  the  British  South  Africa  Company,  with  head¬ 
quarters  at  Mt.  Silinda. 

The  plan  of  asking  for  nominations  of  Corpo¬ 
rate  Members  of  the  Board  from  State  Confer¬ 
ences  of  Congregational  churches,  adopted 
temporarily  in  1892,  was  subsequently  incorpo¬ 
rated  in  the  By-laws  of  the  Board.  In  1893 
Rev.  Dr.  E.  K.  Alden  declined  reflection  as 
Corresponding  Secretary,  and  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Daniels,  d.d.,  was  elected  in  his  place.  The 
following  year  Secretary  N.  G.  Clark,  d.d., 
withdrew,  and  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D., 
became  Corresponding  Secretary.  In  1895 
Langdon  S.  Ward,  Esq.,  died,  after  a  connection 
of  over  forty  years  with  the  treasury  department, 
and  the  following  year  Frank  H.  Wiggin,  Esq., 
was  elected  Treasurer.  In  1895  a  deputation  was 
sent  to  Japan  to  consider  and  advise  in  regard  to 
the  future  policy  of  the  mission.  The  deputa¬ 
tion  rendered  valuable  service  specially  in  con¬ 
nection  \Vith  the  restoration  of  the  Doshisha  to 
its  position  as  a  Christian  institution.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year  a  reign  of  terror  began 


20 


throughout  the  Turkish  empire.  In  the  mas¬ 
sacres  which  desolated  scores  of  cities  and 
hundreds  of  villages,  the  lives  of  American  mis¬ 
sionaries  were  providentially  spared,  but  tens 
of  thousands  who  bore  the  Christian  name  were 
cruelly  slaughtered,  a  host  of  them  dying  as 
true  martyrs  to  their  faith.  Mission  property 
was  destroyed,  especially  atHarpootand  Marash. 
Indemnity  for  these  losses  was  demanded,  and 
promised  by  the  Turkish  government,  but  pay¬ 
ment  was  delayed  for  more  than  six  years.  Yet 
the  mission  churches,  though  sorely  afflicted  and 
weakened  by  the  loss  of  members,  were  by  no 
means  destroyed.  As  a  result  of  their  common 
sufferings  the  Gregorians  have  become  more 
friendly  to  the  Protestants,  the  mission  schools 
are  full,  the  churches  are  crowded,  and  the 
demand  for  missionary  work  is  more  imperative 
than  ever. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1895  the  Board  found 
itself  burdened  with  a  debt  of  about  $115,000, 
the  result  chiefly  of  the  falling  off  of  legacies 
during  the  previous  two  or  three  years.  An 
effort  to  raise  this  amount  was  successful,  and  at 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  1896  no  debt  was  re¬ 
ported,  though  this  result  was  secured  only  by 
serious  reduction  in  the  grants  made  to  the 
missions. 


21 


During  the  latter  part  of  this  decade  large  sec¬ 
tions  of  India,  especially  in  the  western  portion, 
including  the  district  covered  by  our  Marathi 
mission,  suffered  terribly  from  famine  and  the 
bubonic  plague.  Vast  numbers  of  people  died  of 
disease  and  want,  and  most  generous  efforts  for 
relief  were  made  both  by  the  Indian  government, 
and  by  private  donors  in  America  and  Great 
Britain.  Our  missionaries,  with  great  energy  and 
devotion,  labored  in  the  distribution  of  this  re¬ 
lief,  and  opened  orphanages,  in  which  thousands 
of  children  have  been  cared  for  physically  and 
morally.  In  1897  Dr.  Storrs  resigned  the  presi¬ 
dency  of  the  Board,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Charles  M.  Lamson,  d.d.,  and  upon  his  lamented 
death,  two  years  later,  Samuel  B.  Capen,  ll.d., 
was  chosen  to  the  presidency.  In  1898  a  special 
effort,  under  the  title  of  “  The  Forward  Move¬ 
ment,”  was  inaugurated  to  secure  the  direct  sup¬ 
port  of  individual  missionaries  by  single  churches 
or  groups  of  churches.  The  same  year  a  depu¬ 
tation  was  sent  to  the  missions  in  China  to  visit 
the  fields,  confer  with  the  missionaries,  and 
plan  for  future  work,  which  presented  its  report 
at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  that  year.  In  1900  the 
mission  on  Ponape,  Micronesia,  was  reopened, 
and  Guam,  in  the  Ladrone  Islands,  which  had 
become  United  States  territory,  was  occupied  as 


22 


a  new  station  of  the  Micronesian  Mission.  The 
last  year  of  this  decade  was  marked  by  the  ex¬ 
traordinary  Boxer  uprising  in  China,  which,  for 
a  time,  threatened  the  extinction  of  missionary 
work  and  the  death  of  all  missionaries  in  the 
northern  provinces.  As  it  was,  thirteen  mission¬ 
aries  of  the  American  Board  and  five  children 
connected  with  the  Shansi  and  North  China 
Missions  were  slain,  besides  hundreds  of  native 
converts.  At  the  close  of  this  decade  the  Board 
had  20  missions,  97  stations,  1,209  out-stations, 
167  ordained  missionaries  (17  of  them  physi¬ 
cians),  18  physicians  and  men  not  ordained, 
359  female  assistant  missionaries  (168  of  them 
wives)  ;  making  a  total  of  544  American  laborers. 
There  were  of  native  helpers,  240  pastors,  513 
preachers,  1,930  teachers,  800  other  helpers  —  a 
total  of  3,483.  There  were  505  churches  with 
50,892  members,  4,551  having  been  added  within 
the  preceding  year.  There  were  120  high  schools 
and  colleges  with  10,242  pupils,  1,135  common 
schools  with  49,375  pupils,  the  total  number 
under  instruction  being  62,188.  The  contribu¬ 
tions  in  the  native  churches  were  $147,879. 

During  the  nine  decades  of  the  existence  of 
the  Board  it  sent  out  924  men  and  1,423  women 
as  missionaries,  a  total  of  2,347.  The  aggregate 
receipts  during  the  four  score  and  ten  years  of 


23 


missionary  labor  were  $32,845,372.49.  To  the 
churches  under  its  care  there  have  been  received 
157,658  members. 

The  first  year  of  the  tenth  decade  of  the 
Board’s  history  has  been  marked  by  the  reorgani¬ 
zation  in  some  good  degree  of  the  work  in  China ; 
the  sending  of  a  deputation  from  the  Board  to 
visit  the  missions  in  India  and  Ceylon,  and  the 
securing  at  an  evening  session  of  the  Annual 
Meeting  at  Hartford  of  sufficient  pledges  to  cover 
the  debt  of  $102,000,  which  had  been  accumu¬ 
lated  in  recent  years. 

Periodicals  of  the  Board.  —  The  first  or¬ 
gan  of  the  Board  was  The  Pa7ioplist ,  commenced 
in  1805,  which  in  1808  was  united  with  the  Mis¬ 
sionary  Magazine  (established  in  1803), and  the 
double  title  was  used  until  1818,  when  the  name 
was  changed  to  The  Panoplist  and  Missionary 
Herald.  These  publications  were  under  private 
ownership.  Three  years  later  (1821)  the  first 
portion  of  the  name  was  dropped,  and  the  Mis¬ 
sionary  Herald  became  exclusively  the  property 
of  the  Board  and  has  so  continued  to  this  day. 
In  1841  The  Dayspring ,  a  small  monthly  paper 
for  children,  was  established,  and  continued  un¬ 
til  1850,  when  its  form  was  altered  and  its  name 
changed  to  The  Youth's  Dayspring.  This  pub- 


24 


lication  was  discontinued  at  the  close  of  1855. 
In  1850  the  Journal  of  Missions,  in  newspaper 
form,  was  begun,  but  was  discontinued  at  the 
close  of  1861.  In  1882  a  children’s  paper,  The 
Mission  Dayspring ,  was  commenced  by  the 
American  Board  and  Woman’s  Boards  conjointly. 
In  1879  Rev.  I.  R.  Worcester,  who  for  twenty- 
two  years  had  been  editor  of  the  Missionary 
Herald ,  withdrew,  and  his  place  was  taken  by 
Rev.  E.  E.  Strong.  The  annual  publication  of 
th ft  American  Boar d Almanac  of  Missions  began 
with  the  year  1886.  Beginning  with  January, 
1897,  the  Board  united  with  the  other  five  na¬ 
tional  Congregational  Benevolent  Societies  in 
the  publication  of  the  monthly  paper  entitled 
Congregational  Work. 

Woman’s  Boards  Co-operative.  —  Among 
the  most  efficient  aids  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
work  of  the  American  Board  have  been  the  Wo¬ 
man’s  Board  of  Missions,  Boston,  organized  in 
1868 ;  and  the  Woman’s  Board  of  the  Interior, 
organized  in  1869;  and  the  Woman’s  Board  of 
the  Pacific,  organized  in  1873. 

Colleges.  —  Among  the  higher  institutions 
for  Christian  education,  aiming  always  at  the 
preparation  of  an  evangelical  agency,  some  of 
them  being  under  the  direct  care  of  boards  of 


25 


trustees,  some  of  them  receiving  grants-in-aid 
from,  and  all  of  them  affiliated  with,  the  Board, 
the  following  may  be  mentioned  :  Jaffna  College 
(1872)  ;  Central  Turkey  College,  Aintab  (1874)  ; 
Euphrates  College,  Harpoot  (1878)  ;  North  Pa¬ 
cific  Institute,  Honolulu  (1877)  ;  Constantinople 
“Home,”  begun  in  1870  and  chartered  as  the 
American  College  for  Girls  in  1890;  Collegiate 
and  Theological  .Institute  at  Samokov  (1880); 
Pasumalai  College  (1886) ;  Anatolia  College, 
Marsovan  (1886)  ;  Central  Turkey  College  for 
Girls,  Marash  (1886)  ;  Kobe  College  for  Girls 
(1890)  ;  International  Institute  for  Girls  in  Spain 
(1892)  ;  North  China  College,  Tungcho  (1890)  ; 
Foochow  College  (1898)  ;  International  College, 
Smyrna  (1902).  Besides  these  institutions,  theo¬ 
logical  and  high  schools  are  connected  with  nearly 
every  mission.  Robert  College,  at  Constantino¬ 
ple,  though  not  formally  connected  with  the  Board , 
was  organized  through  the  influence  of  its  mission¬ 
aries  in  1863.  In  1896  the  Doshisha,  at  Kyoto, 
Japan,  established  in  1875,  withdrew  from  its  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Board,  but  has  since  then  placed 
itself  in  line  with  the  work  of  our  missionaries, 
some  of  whom  are  on  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

Mode  of  Operation.  —  The  Board  is  a  cor¬ 
porate  body,  limited  to  350  active  members. 


26 


chosen  by  ballot,  at  least  one  third  laymen  and 
one  third  clergymen.  These  Corporate  Mem¬ 
bers  elect  annually  its  officers,  including  the 
Secretaries  and  Treasurer,  and  a  Prudential 
Committee,  consisting  of  the  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  Board  and  twelve  other 
members,  which  meets  weekly,  on  Tuesday  after¬ 
noons.  To  this  Committee  the  Board  intrusts 
the  direction  of  its  operations,  requiring  of  it  an 
Annual  Report.  Honorary  Members,  made  so 
by  a  contribution  of  $100  ($50  if  clergymen), 
have  the  right  to  participate  in  all  the  delibera¬ 
tions  of  the  Board,  but  do  not  vote. 


27 


The  address  of  the  Secretaries  and  of  the 
Treasurer,  Frank  H.  Wiggin,  Esq.,  is  Congrega¬ 
tional  House,  14  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 


FORM  OF  BEQUEST. 

I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  unto  the  “  Ameri¬ 
can  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions,”  incorporated  in  Massachusetts  in  1812, 
the  sum  of . Dollars,  to  be  ex¬ 

pended  for  the  appropriate  objects  of  said  cor¬ 
poration. 


The  literature,  leaflets  and  letters  of  the 
American  Board  may  be  had  by  addressing 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Swett,  Congregational  House, 
14  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

Or  the  Offices  of  the  District  Secretaries  : 

Rev.  C.  C.  Creegan,  D.D.,  4*  Avenue  and 
22d  Street,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  A.  N.  Hitchcock,  Ph.D.,  153  La  Salle 
Street,  Chicago,  Ill. 


28 


For  full  details  of  the  work  of  the  American 
Board,  year  by  year,  as  well  as  for  facts  and 
figures  relating  to- foreign  missions  in  general, 
see  the  monthly  issues  of  the  Missionary 
Herald,  and  the  annual  issues  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Board  Almanac. 

The  Missionary  Herald  ranks  with  the  very 
best  publications  in  its  department,  and  for  those 
members  of  our  churches  who  would  keep  abreast 
of  the  work  in  foreign  lands  it  is  indispensable. 
It  should  be  circulated  widely  in  all  our  churches. 

Single  subscription,  75  cents  a  year ;  in  clubs 
of  ten,  50  cents  each. 


